Madison Westby dealt out wins in doubles and singles to help the Trojans on to victory over USF.

Feb. 6, 2016

GAINESVILLE, FLA. — The No. 4 USC women’s tennis team made itself right at home on the other side of the country today, pinning up a 6-1 win over South Florida in a matchup in Gainesville, Fla. The Trojans followed up a sweep in doubles with a string of three consecutive singles wins to lock down the victory, improving to 2-1 on the year in this early stage of 2016 action.

After rain forced the teams indoors to play out the match on three courts, the Trojans flexed their doubles muscle to kick things off and build momentum and confidence for singles. Jessica Failla and Zoë Katz stepped up first and delivered a 6-2 win from court two to set things off. USC’s top guns on court one, #4 Giuliana Olmos and Gabby Smith, posted a 6-3 win over USF’s Chaves/Martinez to secure the first point of the day, while Rianna Valdes and Madison Westby kept up the winning trend with a 6-3 victory on court three to send the teams on to singles action.

At the No. 1 spot, USC’s #42 Giuliana Olmos was on cruise control for a 6-3, 6-2 win over Olga Martinez to make it a 2-0 Trojan advantage. On court three, Gabby Smith was in similarly strong form as she followed up a tight first set with a blazing path to a 7-5, 6-1 fins victory over Jessica Chaves to set up her team for a clincher. On court two, #49 Madison Westby answered the call. She would regroup after stumbling in the first set and finished off her match decisively, beating Ana Roman Dominguez 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 to lock in on the clinching win for her team.

The Bulls would get on the board when Rianna Valdes retired from her match on court five, but USC went on to carve a clean path to the finish line with two more straight-set victories. At the No. 4 spot, #76 Jessica Failla whipped up a 6-4, 6-4 win over Juliana Cardosa to make it 5-1 Trojans, and then #114 Zoë Katz had the last word of the day with a swift 6-3, 6-2 win over Nicole Dzenga on court six to end things as a 6-1 USC win.

The Women of Troy now turn to take on host Florida tomorrow (Feb. 7). USC will square off against the No. 3 Gators at 1:30 p.m. ET. Live scores will be available at sidearmstats.com/florida/wten/xlive.htm